Jojo MotoPhoto
  • Gallery
  • Logbook
    • Morocco
    • Roads to Persia
    • All Blog Posts
15th August 2019 by Johannes
Morocco, Motorcycle Travel Logbook

No Hashish in the Rif Mountains

No Hashish in the Rif Mountains
15th August 2019 by Johannes
Morocco, Motorcycle Travel Logbook

After the first night in Morocco (which was already quite cold, almost down to freezing) I departed eastward, following the Mediterranean cost. A nice winding road brought me to the fishing village of El Jebha, where I had my first Moroccan tajine (with fish of course) and tea. More on the tajine in general later, but I can tell you, that the Moroccan mint tea is outstanding, albeit with a lot of sugar. After lunch I turned southwards into the Rif Mountains, the centre of the Moroccan hashish production.

Somewhere in the Rif Mountains, I followed secondary roads through rural landscape towards the town of Taza.
I spent a night close to a ruin in sight of several villages, I would have preferred a more remote location but the region was dotted with small villages and nightfall left me no other choice. But the ruin, illuminated by the rising moon, offered a perfect foreground for my first night time photo.
Morning haze
On the road towards Taza
Rif Mountains
The mosque at the crossroad. If you have a keen eye, you might notice, that the Tenere isn’t facing in the right direction.
Southeast of Taza, there’s the Tazzeka National Park. I met a hiker, who recommended me to follow this dirt road.
Scenic viewpoint on the way
At the end of the road there was a pass where I set up camp.
There’s a point in life, when every travelling photographer (or photographing traveller…) has to take a picture of an illuminated tent under the milky way. This is my second photo of that type, with bonus points for the shooting star.
The selfie under the stars is another one of the cliche shots. This was taken just after moonrise a few minutes later. It’s surprising how bright a full moon can be.

The next leg took me from the Tazzeka National Park to the town of Midelt in the foothills of the mighty Atlas.

I continued to stay off the main roads, instead following narrow and winding back roads, sometimes paved …
… often unpaved (my preference) …
… and on few occasion even frozen.

For the rest of the day I was in full on riding mode, so no more pictures until the arrival in Midelt. But it was a bliss flying along sandy desert roads and rolling through tiny villages with houses made of clay. But the flow was broken by a trench and a heap of earth. Construction works for a new road had cut off my dirt road and no one had bothered to take care of a detour. So, I left the road to find a way around the trench (nearly getting stuck in the sand while doing so) and continue towards Midelt. On the other side of the trench, I met some workers, who told me that I wasn’t allowed to be here, but gave me directions nonetheless. I still managed to get lost in the extensive construction site, until I was found by two engineers in a pickup truck who guided me to the road towards Midelt (and also told me I wasn’t allowed here).

After 3 days of camping I stayed in a riad (a traditional Moroccan guest house) in Midelt. This is the entrance, …
… this my dusty riding gear (someone probably had to clean the carpets in the entrance hall after I went trough there) …
… and this is the obligatory night time photo for this episode, taken in the riad’s courtyard.
Previous articleAcross the Alps and the Mediterranean SeaNext article How to Make Olive Oil

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Recent Posts

Impressions from Mongolia: People, Customs and Culture26th August 2019
The Return24th August 2019
A Night in the Canyon24th August 2019

Categories

  • Motorcycle Travel Logbook (36)
    • Morocco (10)
    • Roads to Persia (26)
  • Photography (6)
Impressum